A known door handle apparatus for a vehicle for automatically locking/unlocking the vehicle door generally includes a locking controlling system. Hereinafter the locking controlling system will be referred to as a smart entry system. Specifically, the smart entry system firstly recognizes a user approaching to/getting out of the vehicle by communicating with a portable device, which is carried by the user. Then, the smart entry system detects an user's operation for locking/unlocking the vehicle door. On the basis of the detected user's operation, the smart entry system controls the vehicle door so as to be locked or unlocked.
The door handle apparatus including the abovementioned smart entry system further includes a human detecting sensor. Specifically, the human detecting sensor is an electric capacitance type and is provided at a door handle by which the vehicle door is opened/closed by the user. Such door handle apparatus has been disclosed, for example in JP2003221947A. The door handle apparatus for a vehicle disclosed in JP2003221947A detects a user's operation at the door handle as follows. Generally, an electric capacitance is generated between a sensing electrode of the human detecting sensor and the vehicle door, and a level of the electric capacitance changes when a user's hand approaches the sensing electrode of the human detecting sensor provided at the door handle. In this configuration, the door handle apparatus disclosed in JP200322194A detects the user's operation at the door handle by detecting the change of the level of the electric capacitance.
According to the known door handle apparatus disclosed in JP200322194A, the sensing electrode of the human detecting sensor is provided at an outer portion of the door handle, the outer portion not facing the vehicle door. In this structure, the human detecting sensor may incorrectly detect the user's operation at the door handle when the user's body unconsciously approaches the door handle or when the user's body accidentally contacts the detecting portion of the human detecting sensor of the door handle.
In order to reduce such incorrect detection, the sensing electrode of the human detecting sensor may be provided in the vicinity of an upper portion of the door handle so that the user's body may not accidentally contact the detecting portion of the human detecting sensor. However, if the human detecting sensor is provided at the upper portion of the door handle, water (e.g., rain drops of water) may be retained on the detecting portion of the human detecting sensor. In this configuration, the human detecting sensor may incorrectly detect the water as the user's operation.
A need thus exists for a door handle apparatus for a vehicle which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.